Comparison

PDF Extractor vs Folio Writer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PDF Extractor

Extract text, tables, and images from PDFs securely on your device. Offers on-device OCR for scanned documents and rebuilds content as editable Markdown. Includes project management for revisited extractions.

Highlights
  • On-device OCR for scanned PDFs
  • Extracts text, tables, and images
  • Rebuilds content as Markdown
  • Supports password-protected PDFs
  • Project management for revisited imports
  • Batch ZIP export
Features
Read full description

Pull the text, tables and images out of any PDF — entirely on your device. Nothing is uploaded, so private documents stay private. PDFExtract reads a PDF's own text layer when it has one, and falls back to on-device OCR when it doesn't. Either way it rebuilds what it finds as clean Markdown you can paste straight into your notes, docs or knowledge base. Every import becomes a project you can reopen, review and run again with different settings. WHAT IT DOES - Import standard and password-protected PDFs - Extract the text layer from selectable PDFs - On-device OCR for scanned and image-only pages - Rebuild detected tables as real Markdown tables - Pull embedded images out of pages at their original resolution - Preview the original PDF, the extracted images and the rendered Markdown - Copy Markdown, share it as a file, or export a whole project as a ZIP - Tune OCR: recognition level, render resolution up to 600 DPI, recognition languages, automatic language detection and language correction - Choose the Markdown output style, page headings and document title - Keep every import as a project you can revisit and re-extract WHAT'S FREE - Text, Markdown and OCR for the first 5 pages of a document - The first 10 extracted images of a project - Every OCR and Markdown setting - Copy the Markdown or share it as a file PDFEXTRACT PRO UNLOCKS - Every page of a document, however long it runs - Every extracted image, unblurred and shareable - Tables rebuilt as Markdown tables instead of run-together lines - Batch ZIP export of the Markdown and all extracted images SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS PDFExtract Pro is available as a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time Lifetime purchase. - Monthly: auto-renews every month - Yearly: auto-renews every year - Lifetime: a single payment, never renews Prices are shown in the app and vary by region. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the period ending. You can manage or cancel a subscription any time in your Apple Account settings. PRIVACY PDF parsing, OCR, layout analysis and table recognition all run locally on your device. Your documents are never uploaded to a server. Privacy Policy: https://www.mzjpg.com/policy/pdfextract Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Folio Writer

This writing studio allows you to work on long-form projects like books and manuscripts on your iPhone and iPad. It supports plain text formats like Markdown and Typst, syncing seamlessly with its Mac counterpart. Features include a special keyboard bar, project organization, and citation management.

Highlights
  • Plain-text writing (Markdown, Typst)
  • iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Files integration
  • Special Markdown key bar
  • Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus
  • Binder for project organization
  • Snapshots for version control
  • Project-wide search
  • BibTeX citation support
Features
Read full description

Folio Writer is a plain-text writing studio for long-form work — scholarly manuscripts, books, and novels. This is its iPhone and iPad edition: the same projects, the same files, in your pocket. Open a project from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, any Files location, or your Folio Cloud account, and pick up exactly where you left off on the Mac. Everything you write is a plain Markdown or Typst file you own — no lock-in. WRITE ANYWHERE — FREE A Markdown key bar puts #, *, links, code, and $math$ one tap away. Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus for drafting on the go. Live word count and writing targets for each document, the whole draft, and each session. Hardware-keyboard shortcuts on iPad. YOUR WHOLE PROJECT — FREE The full binder: browse, open, rename, reorder by dragging, indent and outdent, and create new documents. Project-wide search with filters — label:, status:, type:, tag: — and saved searches as Collections. Version history: every save is kept and restorable, so nothing you write is quietly lost. Comments, and the Review Inbox for suggestions from co-authors. CITATIONS & PREVIEW — FREE Insert citations from the project's BibTeX files by author, year, or key. Preview the rendered document — headings, tables, images, and LaTeX math — right on the device. SYNC WITH THE MAC AND FOLIO CLOUD — FREE Opens the exact same .folio projects as Folio Writer for Mac, byte-for-byte. Conflict-safe syncing: edits from two devices merge when they don't overlap, and a losing copy is always preserved. Sign in to Folio Cloud and every project your account owns is listed; create projects in the cloud, share by link, co-edit live, and protect encrypted projects with a recovery passphrase. FOLIO PRO — ONE PURCHASE FOR MAC, iPHONE, AND iPAD Pro adds the finishing tools: Preview Manuscript — the whole draft assembled in binder order with its title page. Suggesting — propose edits as tracked changes, then Accept or Reject each one from the review bar, and mark a document as reviewed. Snapshots — named copies to compare side by side and roll back, change by change. Insert Template, with starter snippets for figures, tables, equations, and more. Compile to PDF, Word, or Typst through Folio Cloud, right from the device. Pay once, unlock both platforms. Folio Pro is the same one-time purchase as in Folio Writer for Mac: buy it here and Pro unlocks on your Mac; buy it on the Mac and it unlocks here. It follows your Apple ID — tap Restore Purchases if it hasn't appeared. Every Pro feature is free to try for 7 days. Prefer to pay by the month or year? Pro ($1.99 a month) and Premium ($3.99) are also available as subscriptions, which unlock the tier here and on the Mac for as long as they run and come with complimentary Folio Cloud storage (1 GB or 3 GB), so your projects sync to every device and open in any browser. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No analytics, no trackers. Your manuscripts never leave your own devices except through the cloud service you choose, and Folio Cloud projects are end-to-end encrypted. In-App Purchases (display names) Folio Pro — one-time, universal purchase shared with Folio Writer for Mac Folio Pro Subscription — monthly / yearly (Pro here and on the Mac + 1 GB Folio Cloud storage) Folio Premium Subscription — monthly / yearly (Premium here and on the Mac + 3 GB Folio Cloud storage) Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://foliowriter.app/privacy/

Screenshots

PDF Extractor4 screens
Folio Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Folio Writer at none against PDF Extractor's shown. Folio Writer also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PDF Extractor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Folio Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Extractor ships an update every 5 months, Folio Writer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PDF Extractor versus Folio Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ExtractorFolio Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDajialeBin Chen

Customer experience

PDF Extractor

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Folio Writer

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

PDF Extractor

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDFExtract Pro — Lifetime$49.99
8 purchases

Folio Writer

Subscriptions4
  • Cloud Pro Monthly1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time4
  • Pro Lifetime$19.99
  • Pro to Premium Upgrade$19.99
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Pro Features$39.99

Questions

Is PDF Extractor free?
PDF Extractor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Folio Writer free?
Folio Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Extractor or Folio Writer have ads?
PDF Extractor shows ads; Folio Writer does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Extractor or Folio Writer?
PDF Extractor ships an update every 5 months, and Folio Writer every 4 days. Most recently, PDF Extractor was updated on October 25, 2026 and Folio Writer on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons